What are the documented harms from injecting petroleum jelly or oils into the penis?

1. Clinical injuries reported most often: infection, ulceration, necrosis, and deformity

Case reports and series document acute and chronic complications after petroleum‑jelly penile injections including abscesses and bacterial superinfection, ulceration and tissue necrosis, woody induration and hard nodules, recurrent bleeding, and progressive penile deformity that can impair voiding and sexual function ^{[5] [2] [6] [4]}. In the largest published investigation of 680 patients with mineral‑oil self‑injections, severe induration was seen in about 43% of cases, necrosis in 1.6%, voiding complaints in 4.1%, and ulceration was reported at variable rates in other series—illustrating a heavy burden of morbidity ^[2].

2. Pathology and timing: granulomas, fibrosis and potential systemic spread

Histologically the injected oil provokes an acute purulent inflammation followed by a chronic granulomatous foreign‑body reaction and replacement by fibrotic tissue; lipid vacuoles persist and the body lacks enzymes to metabolize these oils, which is why lipogranulomas (paraffinomas) form and may progress for months to years after injection ^{[1] [7]}. Latency between injection and clinical symptoms ranges widely—from as soon as two days to as long as 30–37 years in documented reports—so apparently “asymptomatic” early periods do not indicate safety ^{[1] [7]}.

3. Severe and systemic outcomes: lymphadenitis, migration, embolism, and even Fournier’s gangrene

Beyond localized scarring, regional lymphadenopathy and granulomatous lymphadenitis have been reported, and oil can migrate to other tissues producing diagnostic dilemmas ^{[1] [7]}. Reports also list embolic phenomena, progressive tissue destruction culminating in Fournier’s gangrene (a fulminant, life‑threatening infection), and assertions in the literature that carcinogenic potential has been suggested—though the latter is cited as a concern in review literature rather than as common, proven consequence ^{[3] [4]}.

4. Treatment burden and outcomes: surgery often required, with variable recovery

Because the material does not resorb, definitive treatment commonly requires surgical excision of granulomas and affected skin with reconstructive techniques such as scrotal or thigh flaps, skin grafts, and staged penoscrotal reconstruction; even with surgery, functional and cosmetic results can be unsatisfactory and recurrence is possible ^{[4] [3] [8]}. Small series note urgent operations were necessary in many treated patients and that delayed presentation complicates management ^{[9] [2]}.

5. Scale, settings and social drivers: non‑medical practice and cultural pressures

The practice persists largely outside formal medicine—performed by nonmedical practitioners, in prisons, or self‑administered—driven by low cost, accessibility, and cultural or psychosocial pressures regarding penile size; literature spanning Asia, Eastern Europe and other regions repeatedly emphasizes socioeconomic and cultural motivations and the role of misinformation or lay networks in spreading the practice ^{[10] [11] [12]}. Medical reviews and public health commentaries warn that immediate cosmetic effects mask long‑term harm and call for public education ^{[13] [11]}.

6. Bottom line: well‑documented, avoidable, and often irreversible harms

The preponderance of evidence from multiple case reports and large cohorts documents that injecting petroleum jelly or oils into the penis causes foreign‑body granulomas, fibrosis, deformity, infection (including life‑threatening forms), erectile and voiding dysfunction, and frequently requires complex surgery—harms that can appear decades after the act—so the practice is medically contraindicated and preventable by education and access to safe, evidence‑based care ^{[2] [1] [4]}.